


Outing

by pink_shoes



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 16:21:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13593852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pink_shoes/pseuds/pink_shoes
Summary: Inferno invites Red Alert on an outing to meet some of his human firefighter friends.





	Outing

Red Alert seldom left the Ark, even when he had a rare free shift. But today, at Ratchet’s insistence, he was driving to one of the nearby human towns with Inferno to spend some time with the volunteer firefighters.

To the introverted Red Alert, Inferno seemed to know every single human firefighter in a hundred-mile radius. He had no idea how his bodyguard managed to remember all their designations, let alone tell them apart.

When they arrived in town, a fairly large group of humans was waiting for them outside the firehouse. Inferno transformed first and crouched down to talk to them. Red Alert remained in altmode, scanning the area for any threats.

“Oh hey, check it out,” said one of the humans, approaching Red Alert. “A lamborghini, right? That’s so—”

Red Alert transformed, and the firefighter jumped back.

“Glad you could make it,” said another one of the humans to Inferno. He looked at Red Alert. “So this is your…” The firefighter seemed to be struggling with the words. He looked at some of the others for help. “...uh...”

“This is Red Alert,” said Inferno, pulling the mech closer to his side. “Red, this is John, Tony, Sam, Christopher, Gene, Jean, Frank, and Sara.”

“Oh,” said Red Alert, fighting the urge to bolt. They might have been just humans, but there were so many of them, and they were all staring at him.

“So, how did that fundraiser turn out?” asked Inferno. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it—”

That seemed to lighten the atmosphere, and the humans all began speaking animatedly. Red Alert glanced around the lot, pulsing an instinctive hello at the nearby security cameras. They responded to him in the sluggish, half-asleep way that human security cameras always did. He paused to examine the lifeless trucks parked inside the fire house, so similar to the altmode that Inferno had taken. His delicate sensors were picking up one very tiny organic lifesign in the trucks.

“Is something wrong?” asked one of the humans, noting Red Alert’s stare.

“There is an organic creature in your garage,” said Red Alert. The humans all looked around at each other in confusion, but then the one called Sam smiled.

“Pepper! Come here, girl!” And he gave a sharp whistle. From inside the garage, there was an excited bark, followed by something small and furry leaping down from one of the truck beds.

As it ran towards them, Red Alert realized that it was a dog, a sort of animal that commonly served as a pet to humans. This particular dog had a white basecoat, but was heavily marked with round black spots.

Inferno released Red Alert and knelt down to let Pepper sniff his servos. To Red Alert’s surprise, she didn’t just smell them, she jumped into them like the humans did when they wanted to be picked up. Inferno laughed and turned to Red Alert. “Do you want to hold her?”

“I don’t want to hurt her...” But Inferno was already standing up and holding Pepper out towards him. Pepper didn’t seemed at all alarmed by the dramatic change in height, and even wagged her tail. Red Alert accepted her reluctantly, and, once he was sure that he wouldn’t hurt her, rubbed the side of her face with his thumb. Pepper seemed to enjoy it, and he had to admit that his spark relaxed a little when she gazed up at him.

Still, she was so small, and her joints so fragile. Red Alert was simultaneously relieved and disappointed when Inferno took her away and set her back on the ground.

“So,” said the human called Gene. “You two are…?” The sentence ended there, but Red Alert’s sensors told him that the human was suddenly nervous. In fact, all the humans were nervous, their bodies expelling organic pheromones for anxiety and even panic.

But why? Human romantic relationships were not taboo. In fact, romantic relationships were the central aspect of much of their entertainment media. Inferno seemed to sense an issue as well, and very deliberately rested his servo on top of Red Alert’s.

“We’re not bonded,” said Inferno. “But we wouldn’t mind it, after the war’s over.”

“Is that legal?” asked Frank bluntly, and immediately received some glares from the other humans for it. “What? You were all thinking it.”

“Legal?” repeated Red Alert, looking to Inferno for help. He understood humans far better than Red Alert did, after all. But Inferno looked equally lost.

“Sparkbonding has never been illegal, even with the war on,” said Inferno. “They—Prime and everyone—tell everyone they should hold off until the war’s over, but it’s not illegal.”

“Yeah, but you guys are both, like…the same,” said Sara. “I mean, you’re both…right?”

“We’re both civilian-sparks,” said Inferno.

“Okay, yeah,” said Frank. “And, on Cybertron, are people usually with...I mean, what’s the other kind of spark?”

“There’s actually twelve other types,” began Inferno, but he fell silent at the expressions on the human’s faces, ranging from surprise to concern. “Uh. Maybe I’m not the best one to explain this. I’m a firefighter, not a medic.”

“Oh, who cares?” blurted out the human called Sam. “Who cares if they’re gay or whatever? Can’t we just enjoy the friggen day?”

“I’m confused,” said Red Alert faintly. He had no idea what his relationship with Inferno had to do with the rainbow people that Tracks liked to spend time with.

“Don’t be. It’s not important, and if anyone wants to make it into an issue, they can come out and say it now.” Sam glared at his fellow humans. “We all know Inferno, right? We know how many lives he’s saved. If anyone suddenly has a problem with him, you can leave.”

Red Alert shifted uncomfortably, wishing he was back at the security center, where things made sense. Sensing his distress, Inferno pulled Red Alert closer to his side.

“Nobody’s got a problem with anything,” said Sara. “Right? Right?” she looked around at the others. “We were just. Just curious.”

“I think I should go,” said Red Alert.

“No, stay!” said another human. Red Alert did not remember this one’s name. “We’re sorry. Sara’s right. We were just curious. Nobody’s got a problem with anything. We’re glad you’re here. Inferno talks about you all the time. We’ve wanted to meet you for ages.”

“Wanted to make sure you actually existed,” added another firefighter, which prompted laughter from the other humans.

“What, you all thought I made him up?” asked Inferno. Red Alert was still not completely comfortable, but Inferno was smiling again, and that helped.

“‘Oh yeah, I totally have a boyfriend. Yeah, he’s a lamborghini. No, you can’t meet him. But he’s definitely real,’” teased one of the humans.

“He lives in Canada!” Sara suggested.

“On Cybertron,” someone else corrected.

Red Alert felt himself relax, and a tiny smile slipped across his face. Something touched his knee, and he looked down to see Pepper was staring up at him again, her long tongue wagging. Red Alert reached down to pick her up, holding her at chest-level, just above his spark, and listened as the humans continued to laugh and joke with one another.

“Should I be getting you a dog?” asked Inferno, when he noticed this.

“I don’t know,” said Red Alert. “Maybe.” An hour ago, he would have found the idea ridiculous, perhaps even insulting. Other mechs on the Ark had pets, but Red Alert had never understood the psychology behind it until now. Perhaps a dog would make the security center feel a little bit more like home. And it would be nice to have something to hold when Inferno wasn’t around.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so I actually wrote this back in, like 2015, but I never finished it because it doesn't actually have a plot but I am having the worst!! day!! ever!! and!!! want!! to!!! die!!! and apparently this is how I handle it.


End file.
